West Bend’s Goodwill helps our community

Post date: May 11, 2018 11:47:00 AM

By: Chelsea Inchaurregui, Staff Writer

Posted May 11th, 2018

I’m positive all of us have entered stores, where we just enter, buy the things we need, and then leave. By doing so, we are missing out on how people are collaborating with each other and the impact every single employee has to that business, and to the overall community, in general. In my sociology class, we learned about “The Forest and the Trees”, and this concept was established by Allan Johnson. It’s like how Goodwill is a forest, it has multiple contributions. The trees would be individual people, like employees and managers that allow for a Goodwill to thrive and better serve others. Sometimes, we fail to notice these trees, and just see a store as a forest, a bunch of trees, but there is more beauty to it than that, just by looking into how employees make a difference in the back can make you see the world differently.

As an employee at Goodwill in West Bend, I’ve been able to share my quality skills for an important cause. The Goodwill mission is to help those with disadvantages obtain employment. This non-profit organization is open to new tactics when it comes to supporting the mission. For example, we have the rounding up option, where instead of paying like $4.62, you can pay $5 to further contribute to our mission.

It’s amazing how donating something you don’t use results in someone with a disability being able to work. That one donation gets delivered through the back, ends up on the belt, which then eventually gets priced by pricers. We don’t just throw away things that are not suitable for pricing. We have a system where we salvage clothes, shoes, books, metals, electronics, and so much more. Through this method, second-market buyers can buy these items, and then we still are supporting the Goodwill mission!

I hope now that we can learn to appreciate the “individual trees” in Goodwill because I've never known such an organization, like this one, that ensures that what we receive can be used, and as an employee, I feel proud to know that just by working there, I can create opportunities for those with disadvantages, and allow them to fulfill their dreams.